The Patriot Post® · Monday Executive News Summary
Senate DHS bill quashed by the House: In the early hours of Friday, the Senate passed a DHS funding package that included no funding for ICE. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson quickly rejected the bill, stating bluntly, “It is unconscionable to me that the Democrats would force some sort of negotiation at three o'clock in the morning and try to foist this upon the American people and then get on their jets and go home for their holiday — and pretend and think that we’re going to go along with that.” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain also noted text in the bill that read, “US Customs and Border Protection Act shall have no force or effect for purposes of this act.” She called that “a big concern.” Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday, citing an emergency provision, to pay TSA agents in full.
Iranian hacking group targets FBI director: The Handala Hack Team, believed to be an Iranian government cyber intelligence unit, struck back at the FBI after several Iranian domains were seized and a $10 million bounty was placed on its members. FBI Director Kash Patel had his personal email compromised by the hackers, with personal photos and a résumé already being made public. Handala insists this proves “the so-called ‘impenetrable’ systems of the FBI were brought to their knees within hours by our team.” An FBI spokesman said that the breach is “historical in nature and involves no government information.” The known breached information dates from 2010 to 2019 and involves personal and professional correspondence. The FBI confirmed that the Handala team frequently targets U.S. government officials.
Supreme Court will consider birthright citizenship: President Trump’s executive order last year ending birthright citizenship was immediately challenged by several lower courts, leading to a 6-3 Supreme Court decision against the injunctions filed against the EO. The Supreme Court is now set to hear the birthright citizenship case for the children of illegal immigrants and temporary visitors on Wednesday. The 14th Amendment, originally intended to allow freed slaves and their children to become citizens, has long been abused and has encouraged birth tourism. Many judges and lawyers claim that Trump’s EO is unconstitutional, and three of the Supreme Court justices will almost certainly agree. Some of the remaining six justices have hinted that they may also have concerns with ending birthright citizenship.
Florida rep’s ethics violation: Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) was found guilty of 25 out of 27 charges of ethics violations by the House Ethics Committee. Cherfilus-McCormick stole $5 million in disaster relief funds, which were used to jump-start her congressional campaign and for personal use, such as the purchase of a $100,000 ring pictured in her official congressional photo. Next month, the full committee will meet to make a recommendation to the full Congress, at which time Cherfilus-McCormick will face censure if Democrats are lenient on one of their own or expulsion if not. Cherfilus-McCormick also faces federal charges that could land her in prison for up to 53 years.
Trump administration scaling back asylum restrictions: The Department of Homeland Security has announced, “USCIS has lifted the adjudicative hold for thoroughly screened asylum seekers from non high-risk countries.” Asylum seekers from around the world had been placed in limbo after the Trump administration placed a pause on all cases following an Islamic terror attack that was carried out in Washington, DC, last November by a man who had been granted asylum. That pause has been lifted for all nations except the 39 currently under a travel ban, which include Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia, and others. Citizens of those 39 countries also face a freeze on all other legal immigration applications for the time being.
New Jersey’s sanctuary state: Last week, newly elected Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation declaring the entire state of New Jersey a “sanctuary” state. Dubbed the New Jersey Immigrant Trust Act, the bill restricts the use of state resources to assist ICE. The law applies to all state agencies, local governments, public colleges, and healthcare facilities. The law bars state and local law enforcement from complying with detainer requests, sharing data, or using facilities with federal immigration enforcement officials. Republican State Sen. Robert Singer derided the legislation, stating, “More and more dangerous people are here, yet we don’t want to protect the people who protect us. Shame on us!”
CPAC poll disputes media narrative of divided conservative movement: A popular talking point across mainstream media is that conservatives are sharply divided over President Trump’s policy actions, highlighted by the current action against Iran. However, a straw poll conducted on Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference found that the narrative does not align with conservatives’ opinions. The poll found that 89% approved of Trump’s use of military force to remove Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with just 8% disapproving. When it came to the statement that Trump has been “the best president in my lifetime,” 94% agreed. Regarding the U.S. alliance with Israel, 85% support it. Furthermore, when it came to the statement that “supposed conservative leaders and influencers” were creating unnecessary division and controversy for attention and hurting the movement as a result, 85% agreed.
America to return to the moon, never to leave again: “The goal is not just to reach the Moon, but to stay,” explains NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “America will never give up the Moon again.” On Wednesday, April 1, Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, astronaut Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will, if all goes well, launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and pass around the far side of the moon before returning to earth. This Artemis II mission is a test flight intended to pave the way for an exciting and ambitious set of future launches. It will be the first manned lunar-flyby mission since the Apollo 17 landing in 1972. NASA has announced its “Ignition” strategic initiative as a roadmap of future lunar and martian missions, including a manned moonbase and the fission-powered Space Reactor-1 Freedom mission in 2028.
Study projects 9M workers displaced by AI in five years: Tufts University recently released the American AI Jobs Risk Index, a new “first of its kind” report to project the impact of the growing Artificial Intelligence industry on the American workforce. Based on occupational data, the report estimates that more than nine million Americans’ jobs are “at risk of displacement in the next two to five years.” The report calculated that these job losses to AI bots would result in a loss of between $200 billion and $1.5 trillion in household income. Tufts University dean of global business Bhaskar Chakravorti contends, “The jobs of the future will be secured by those with a combination of subject-matter expertise, critical-thinking skills for human judgment, and knowledge of AI and how to use it.” The report observed, “Physical, manual, and variable-condition work (roofers, orderlies, dishwashers) face less than one percent displacement.”
Headlines
Trump says Iran deal will “probably” be reached soon (NY Post)
Women in “Handmaid’s Tale” garb march alongside protesters who want Trump to stop bombing Iran’s theocratic regime (Not the Bee)
Trump green-lights oil shipments to Cuba (Washington Examiner)
Businesses forced to bankroll blue states’ failing recycling programs (Washington Times)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.